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Thursday, 11 February 2016

Hello everyone. Well, so much for posting whilst overseas. I have kept a diary, but not ended up posting as planned due to only occasionally having internet access, and actually because most evenings we were out doing things, or busy, or just plain knackered! So I will post now...using my diary notes to trigger my memory..

Friday 2 May 2014.

D .day! Mum arrived, around lunchtime, as I was cleaning up the rest of the house, ready for the house-sitter to come in and take over. We were so excited.
By the time Warren got home from work, we were over the edge... bags already outside ready for loading.
Off we went, we spent the night at Deb and Johns out past Karaka there, so that we weren't rushing tomorrow. Had a great catch up with all of the Tanas, and a bit of a late night, then off to bed.

Saturday 3 May

Today we flew out to Hong Kong from Auckland. The kids were beside themselves with excitement, I think Mum and I were too actually.

Mum and Dad Bassett arrived just as we were ready to go through the gates. Joy (Warrens sister) had driven them up to Auckland from Cambridge to surprise us and see us off....it was a lovely surprise!

We had a loooooong and somewhat tedious 13 hour flight in the most uncomfortable of seats. But we made it through, and the kids were pretty good. It was lovely to finally get to Hong Kong though. We then had to endure a very bumpy and shocking bus trip to Hotel Eaton. We got to our rooms and we just crashed out immediately...we were stuffed!!

Friday, 2 January 2015

I realise that most people won't even see this, since I've been absent since my last post in October. But I will write anyway.

I'll start with "Happy New Year!"

2015, wow. Seems like just the other day people were stockpiling food and things all ready for the Y2K thing to go down. .... and here we are 15 years later!

One of my "resolutions" was to write more. To blog, to write more songs, to create. So I will start here and right now on this first day of 2015.

Looking back on 2014, it's had a good share of its downs... but many more ups that's for sure. Sometimes we quickly sum up our year as "good" or "bad" when in actual fact its many of both, and then lots of ïnbetweens.

I am going to start to look for the positives MORE.. focus on them.

How did you celebrate the new year? Did you go out and kiss your loved ones at the strike of 12am? Or were you in bed long before any of that?

My band were playing in the new year at a venue on the coast ...at Tutukaka.
We played to hundreds of party goers, and raged the night away. I found it tough going as I currently have my leg in a moonboot due to tearing my Achilles tendon playing touch rugby.... so I had to balance, and lean on a stool. But it was a great night. We played about 58 songs over 4 hours, and on the countdown played a hard rock version of Auld lang syne while people kissed and hugged and celebrated. Hubby and I got home at 4am, and were glad to see our bed that's for sure!!

Saturday, 4 October 2014

This week I have been thrashing Audioslave's "Like a Stone" as I'm playing bass on it at a gig in a couple of weeks. It's really growing on me and I find myself humming it lots lately. I used to love playing bass, and so getting to swap around in the band is great fun and a refreshing change. It's really simple to play too, so that's good... :)

Thursday, 1 May 2014

Well I figured, I had best get started as in 2 sleeps, we will finally be on our way overseas.

We have been packing and repacking, and cleaning the house all spic and span for our housesitter who gets here tomorrow!

We are so excited about this trip. After my Dad died (Dec 2012), we (well Hubby really) decided that we had been through so many deaths over the previous few years... friends and loved ones. We needed to get away, and he invited my Mum to come too! So, the last year and a bit, we have been gearing up for this.

We've got our bits and pieces, passports ready..................speaking of passports... a friend of mine sent us this lovely pressie in the mail.........

Pretty cool aye? Any guesses who made the cool Kiwiana passport holder??

It was..................

The very lovely and talented Leonie Grigsby :)

(Thanks for that my friend xx)

And on top of that I won Kristy's softie giveaway.... so here she is (I thought she was a boy, but have been told by my 5yr old that it is in fact a girl bunny...even though it's blue!).

So here's "Keisha" (named by Kendyl)... she also has her bags packed as she is going to come on holiday with us, and see the sights!

Thanks for the bunny (with skinny legs) Kristy ... she is going to be well loved as the kids think she's beautiful!

We have a bit of HongKong/USA/English cash on us, as well as cash passport cards, and Waz still has his bank account open in England, so we are ready for some spending!!

Excited... I'm really excited now!!

Have been for the last week I think!

I will try and blog as often as I can ... perhaps most evenings as a kind of update/journal, I figure it will be great to look back on later when it's all over and done with!

Monday, 7 April 2014

Hey how are you doing? I hope everyone's well, and keeping on keeping on while I have been absent from the bloggy world.

I'm hoping to get up to date on some of your stories and posts... and see how life's been treating you.

I've been crazy busy of late, but am all excited and on the countdown to our family holiday to HongKong, the UK, and Disneyland (LA). 26 days before we board the plane and get away for a bit! I was going to keep a handwritten journal/diary, however, I think I will just use this blog as my travel blog, might be a lot easier!

Anyway, keep your eyes peeled... I'm back (I think)... haha I have actually missed being here and part of this little environment!

Tuesday, 4 February 2014

We're packing our bags again, getting ready to go up North, where Kendyl will have her adenotonsillectomy tomorrow. The only thing she's really worried about is the fact that she is not allowed to eat anything from Midnight.... anyone who knows this child of mine knows she has an appetite like a wolf! She's even asking how long once she wakes up can she eat... hahaha.

So anyway, she decided that she'd like some scones for lunch today. With Jam and Butter, and perhaps a scone with maple syrup too.

She was very helpful stirring and mixing the scones up, and finally we had some lovely golden scones ready for eating!

Wednesday, 15 January 2014

My baby girl has, for the last year and a half been absolutely obsessed with getting her ears pierced. She's just 4yrs old, but had been assuring me that she was well old enough to get them done, and to care for them, and that she'd be so very very brave.

So while we were holidaying in Kaitaia,, we booked in a visit to the local pharmacy.
And we got them done!

I offered to hold her hands but she said "I can do this Mummy". Then proudly she counted down...3, 2, 1... and after the initial shock, tears filled her eyes, but she kept quiet enough...

She totally forgot about the pain when someone thrust a mirror in her face and she could check out the earrings (she'd picked) now pierced through her lobes.

We've only had one drama the next day when, in a hurry she ripped her clothes over her head so she could go swimming...and pulled one out. But that was rectified with a bit of ice and another little push through. Now 2 weeks on, and she's fine, no infections nothing.

Her next mission is going to be getting her huge Tonsils and Adenoids surgically removed on the 5th of February. She said to me... "I'm going to be so brave, and cant wait to have my smelly tonsils OUT". So fingers crossed and lots of prayers for that and a speedy recovery afterwards!!

Wow, what can I say, thanks a heap for still "following". I expected to log in today with only 3 or 4 left following me, not that I'd blame you hehe. Im a shocker of a blogger aren't I? I am however hoping to get settled in a little corner of my window seat sometime this afternoon and do a whole heap of blog-reading and commenting, so prepare for that!

I've had a nice few weeks offline (ish), partly by choice, but mostly because of the crappy limited connection I had in Kaitaia with my little mobile USB thingamajig.

How have you been anyway? I hope that Christmas was a lovely time of "togetherness" with those you love (or have to be around) haha.. And that New years was a fun celebration!

I have so many things/stories/pictures to share, so hopefully I'll see a few of you around in the blogosphere.

Friday, 13 December 2013

I offered to review a book for the wonderful team at Kiwi Mummy Blogs and was so excited today when it arrived to see it was "An Unexpected Christmas" a book written by a very talented writer/Author and fellow Kiwi Mummy blogger Simone Graham of blog: greatfun4kidsblog.com . Being a follower of Simones blog I guess made the book that much more special to me, and I could hear her in this wonderful story. She is a Mum, and such a creative person, that there was no question that a book written by her originally as a gift for her own Children would be anything less than exciting/fun/imaginative, and it certainly lived up to all of that! How lucky are all of us, that she was encouraged by friends to get it published! (Thanks friends of Simone!).

Now I had seen the short film made by St Pauls Arts & Media (in Auckland, New Zealand) of this book previously, and thoroughly enjoyed it, but getting the book, and something in my hot little hands to "flick through" made the experience that much better! I only managed a quick little read through before my children spotted the book and begged to have a read. My Master 9yrs offered to read it to Miss 4yrs, whilst we travelled to the Summer show, and for once we had a fantastic car ride with no arguing or over the top noise.

"An Unexpected Christmas" is a story about God seeing that the world had turned to custard, and needed some intervention on his behalf. Much to the disbelief of the Angels, he decides to send his own Son...the Prince of Heaven, but in the most unexpected place (full of poo), and to the most unexpected of people. The dialogue between God and the Angels is great, and both Kids and Adults alike will love the story!

There is nothing "not to like" about this book. The pictures are fantastic, and interesting. The text/font is visually appealing and not at all boring, the added speech bubbles an extra bonus!. Even the size of the book is great, just the perfect size for Kiddies to be able to "manage".

Both of my children LOVED the book, and laughed at the "they won't be expecting that" bit! and of course the part about being born in a stable (filled with animals, and full of poop). We've had the book one whole day now and Miss 4yrs almost knows the whole thing by heart!

I think this book would be a fantastic gift if you can get your hands on it! I also think it will be one of our favourite "read every year around Christmas time" books, you know the kind to get you in the real "festive spirit". The added bonus with this book for us as a family is that we like to focus on Jesus being the reason for the season, not Santa Claus (we still do Santa, but Jesus is in the fore-front in our household), so that's great that we can have Christ-focused Christmas stories like this. In saying that, I think that it appeals to everyone.

To end this review, I will provide a summary from myself (Mummy aged 40yrs), from my son Asher (aged 9yrs) and my daughter Kendyl (aged 4yrs).
﻿﻿

Fellow-reviewers Kendyl and Asher.

﻿﻿ Would you recommend this book to others?
Me: Yes to everyone..definitely!
Asher: Oh man yeah, it's a cool book.
Kendyl: I will tell allllll of my friends its funny!Would you buy this book?
Me: Yes, and I would urge others to do so quickly before they sell out!
Asher: Yep if I had enough money to I would.
Kendyl: Can I buy it now?? Do we have to give this one back (sad face)???Rate this book 1-10 10 being the best score ever!
Me: 10
Asher: 10
Kendyl: 10Thanks Kiwi Mummy Blogs and Simone for providing the opportunity to give our independent and unbiased review on "An Unexpected Christmas".

Wednesday, 27 November 2013

Hi.
Im still alive.
Im just taking some time out.
This month/next holds a lot of really raw emotions for me, as I remember what was going on this time last year.
I am feeling "raw".
I am missing my Daddy.
Just as I thought I was coping admirably, it's all come crashing down again.
Please don't get me wrong, I'm not feeling depressed, or "hopeless".
I'm just sad, and raw, and full of memories.

This time last year, I was off to bed early. We had an early morning start, as we were going to head to Middlemore hospital, in time to meet up with my Dads doctors, and to get some results from some tests they'd been doing on my Dad. We weren't overly worried, as Dad had been looking better than he had for a long time, and we thought we'd just find out what had caused his lung to collapse whilst he was down there having a check up of his operation site (for something totally unrelated!). We thought we'd pop down and catch up with my sister in law who was having chemo at the time, and my brother who was also down there visiting. We really were none the wiser to what was going on, or the severity of the news that would hit us on the 28th...

A year ago today..... we never imagined that tomorrow, we'd find out that my Dad had terminal small cell lung cancer. (he was a non smoker). We never imagined the pain our hearts and heads would feel tomorrow.... we never thought we'd hear the doctor say "we can't offer any treatment", and when our sobbing, bereft broken hearted Mum said "What do we do now?" the answer would be "just go home".............................................................
We never imagined our Dad asking how long before this disgusting malicious, family destroying disease would take him..............
How could we have imagined the heartbreak that was coming? Dad had been so well.

On the 28th of November 2012, at approximately 11am, we found out that our Dad had approximately 4months left with us...............unless there was to be a miracle.

Imagine how dumbfounded we were when 5 days later, Our Dad died.

Thinking about my beautiful strong, courageous Daddy even more today and the next little while.
<3
Missing him like crazy x

Friday, 11 October 2013

It was quite excting when I saw that Alisa from blog "Finding" was going to start a Mug Swap. Now I had seen many of these happening in blog-land, but usually overseas, and to participate in those usually meant hefty postage fees to get your mug/package there! Great, one for us bloggers here in good ol' New Zealand! so yes I signed up right away.

The next week I got to know who was going to receive my Mugswap, and it was Heather from blog : "This Mum Rocks".

I rocked on over to Heathers blog and had a read... she sounded like a real cool chick. From Canada, married to a Kiwi guy, Mummy, Blogger, and right into Op-shopping. I also saw she liked orange (like my good pal Tracy).

So Kendyl and I set out putting together a package. You know we searched and searched for a really "COOL" orange mug.... but all the ones we found were pretty "blah". I was going to get a really cool travel mug and fill it with bits and pieces, but again all the ones I found were pretty "blah". I looked online even, but the cool ones were going to take a while to get to me... and I wanted it pretty much NOW.

So after about the 4th attempt at looking for an orange mug my 4yr old was nigh on melt down...and she said to me... "can we just get a purple one?? I hate orange mugs!" Great idea! We found one that we both agreed on, and this set the "colour theme" for our package.

It was purple and pink (Kendyls favourite colours) and what do you know, it had butterflies all over it .... and guess who loves butterflies... ;) haha.

In amongst the grocery shopping the next week , we got a box of Vanilla Latte sachets, and a few other goodies ... a few choccies, some other bits and pieces.. (some of which I noticed I had to keep replenishing, as they kept "disappearing"...especially the chocolates!

Found this cute "purple" Sistema little container, so we threw one of those in too!

(they always come in handy, I know I use my little itsy bitsy ones all the time!)

When I saw this dinky little coffee/tea plunger in Typo, I just knew it had to be included in the parcel, it just fitted right!

And this Nail Caviar is fantastic and a bit of a girly indulgence, so I thought Heather might enjoy something like this..... doing her nails whilst having a Vanilla Latte.

Added in a cute cut felt coaster for the mug

A purple teatowel and a little grater (to grate the choc onto the Latte)

Some cutesy little chocolate moulds

And I know this is a bit "cheesy" but a cute little perspex friendship ring

I found a little cute coffee spoon, and tried to engrave

"This Mum Rocks" on the front and "From Neetz" on the back

I can usually engrave pretty well, but this was so weirdly shaped that it was really hard to do, and it kept slipping out of the clamp...

I nearly didn't send it, but thought "what the heck"... and apparently Heather quite liked it

(or so she said haha),.

So, that was my gift to give...and it 's been great to get to know Heather a little more via her blog.

And then....on Tuesday, my mug swap arrived!! Yay

It came all the way from Invercargill. Jolene from blog: my Jolly Life sent me a lovely gift.. not ONE, but TWO mugs, with cute little sayings on them...and I got a nice notebook and pen which I am keeping as a "lyrics ideas book" in my bag at all times... and some yummy chocs (which I got 2 of and the kids got the rest) and a cute little speech bubble magnet/whiteboard pen. Also I got a nice "star" glass necklace, which Kendyl has her eye on! haha.

Thanks so much Jolene!! Isn't it great getting real mail...actually in your letterbox?? ((I love it!)).